Story 52 – An Important Decision Based on Acts chapter 15 verses 1 to 35 Previously, the young church had had to face attacks from the enemy, such as when the apostles were beaten for talking about Jesus, or when Stephen was murdered because he loved Jesus and wouldn’t stop sharing with others that Jesus was the Messiah. Then, even greater trials came as Herod had the apostle James murdered and sought to do the same thing to Peter, only for the Lord to send an angel to free Peter and save the church from sorrow upon sorrow. However, in all these attacks and trials, even though the church suffered and was hurt, at the same time it overcame and grew – certain of the love of the Lord Jesus and knowing that nothing could happen to them that was outside His control. Since that time, Paul and Barnabas had been sent out from a church at Antioch in Syria and had travelled to quite a few places to tell Jews and Gentiles about Jesus, establishing churches in places where there had never been any before. Although, as we know, there had also been a lot of opposition from those who refused to believe their message about Jesus. But then, perhaps one of the greatest threats to the church arose and found itself the focus of attention for that church in Antioch of Syria. Because, into the church, which was made up of both Jewish and Gentile believers, came Jewish teachers from Jerusalem with a message that caused a great deal of pain and confusion. They taught that a person wasn’t really saved unless, in addition to believing in Jesus, they were also circumcised and obeyed the Jewish law given to Moses. In other words, they were saying that believing in Jesus wasn’t enough for the Gentiles - that they needed to become Jews as well. Needless to say, this caused a lot of pain and suffering for the believers in Antioch who had always thought that they were saved simply by believing the message about Jesus dying in their place on the Cross and that His death was enough to save them from the punishment they deserved for the sin and failure in their lives. These Jewish teachers were in sharp disagreement with Paul and Barnabas who did not accept what they were saying and argued strongly against them. It was a situation that couldn’t carry on and needed to be urgently resolved. So, wisely, the leaders of the church in Antioch sent Paul and Barnabas, along with a number of other people, to Jerusalem to meet with the apostles and elders of the church there to get the issue resolved once and for all! As they travelled to Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas met with the various churches along the way and encouraged them by telling them all about the things the Lord had done during their missionary journey, and that Gentiles, too, were believing their message. When the churches heard their news, they were all filled with great joy. When they arrived in Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas were welcomed by the whole church, including the apostles and elders, and they were able to spend some time telling them about what had happened on their missionary journey. This raised the question about what was required by Gentiles in order to be saved. So, the same issue that had been raised in Antioch was now being raised in the church in Jerusalem, as some believers who were also Pharisees stood up and said, ‘These Gentile converts need to be circumcised and told to obey the teachings of Moses,’ which, of course, Paul and Barnabas strongly disagreed with! So, the leaders of the church gathered to discuss the issue in some depth! It was a long discussion but, at the end of it, the leaders came back to the church to deliver their findings. Peter was the first to speak and started by reminding the gathered church that, some time ago (probably 10 years or so earlier), God had chosen him to be the person through whom the gospel would be preached to the Gentiles. This happened when Peter went to see the Roman soldier, Cornelius, who had been given a vision of an angel...